He’s crossed the line first, but Jamie Whincup is under investigation after contact with teammate Craig Lowndes after the first race of the Tyrepower Tasmania 400.

“It’s an unfortunate situation – I’m sorry about the situation, Lowndesy deserved to finish higher than that,” the Red Bull racer said.

“I’m not sorry about the move – it was a textbook move, I was well and truly in there… I feel like I did nothing wrong…

“We’ve been mates for 10 years – hopefully that can continue.”

It isn’t the first of the day for the team, with Lowndes’ car being looked at for a potential technical breach in the second qualifying session.

Holden Racing Team’s James Courtney continued his strong run, home second, ahead of Ford Pepsi Max Crew’s Mark Winterbottom.

Lowndes led Whincup off the line and looked strong at the front. But the Pedders Chrysler Safety Car appeared, after Rick Kelly speared off and ended up stuck in the sand at the end of the back straight.

It wasn’t a good day for Jack Daniel’s Racing, Todd Kelly retiring after a broken front suspension.

Completing the top 10 was Russell Ingall in fourth, Scott McLaughlin, Garth Tander, Will Davison, Craig Lowndes, Fabian Coulthard and Scott Pye.

Others to note include Shane van Gisbergen in 11th, who carved through the field after pitting for loose bodywork early on; and Jason Bright 15.

Click here for full results.

The second race begins at 4.35pm local time this afternoon.

Click here for Championship points – Lowndes continues to lead Coulthard by 55.